A Twisted Cross: Adolf Hitler and the People of Germany

Summary: Essay discusses the relationship between Adolf Hitler and the people of Germany.

The relationship between the people of Germany and its government, the Third Reich, was a perfect example of fascism. The people gave their complete loyalty and obedience to Adolf Hitler because he embodied "the will of the state." After what Germans felt was an unjustified defeat and devastation following World War I, Hitler understood and expressed all the rage and resentment that Germans felt. The German people looked Hitler in for direction; by embodying their will, he provided what the citizens of a fascist state thought of as democracy while also focusing their strength in a single person. This is what Hitler meant by "Hitler is Germany, Germany is Hitler."

After World War I, a treaty was made to try to terminate the war peacefully, but the Treaty of Versailles instead resulted in long bitterness between Germany and France, the...